Alchemy and Magic
by A Rebel's Angel
Summary: Assigned to a mission to go undercover as a student in a magical school and protect a boy targeted by a murderer, Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric soon finds out that there is more to the mission than meets the eye. Takes place in HP:PoA
1. Diary Of Jane

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter.

Warnings: This takes place after the Incident of Laboratory but before Ed and Al are found by their teacher. Somehow they are in Central ready for a new mission and yeah Alphonse already dealt with the whole 'My memories are fake' phase. This also takes place before Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The only changes I made to the canon of Fullmetal at this point is that they go to Central and Mustang knows about what happened and is pissed off.

* * *

Edward Elric leaned against the wall of his superior's office with a bored look on his face looking half asleep. Beside him laid the armor suit which contained the soul of his younger brother, Alphonse Elric. The day was calm and quiet. In front of him was a desk who belonged to Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist. His onyx eyes moved to the boys as they narrowed suspiciously.

"Fullmetal." He said, greeting the boy by his given State name. The golden eyed boy looked at him, not flinching under the man's unwavering glare. Edward Elric was _not_ amused by the glaring war between Mustang, but unable to do much about it, he simply glared back and refused to back down. Having to come to Central after he had been able to find out things about the Philosopher's Stone was definitely not in his agenda.

"Bastard." Ed said, exchanging the same look that Mustang was giving him. Tension rose in the air as the two men refused to give up the staring contest. Alphonse, who noticed the signs of a battle tried to begin a conversation.

"Colonel, why are we here? We need to find the stone. Why did you call us?" Alphonse politely asked Mustang, whose lips formed a smirk as he saw the short alchemist suddenly stop glaring at him and waited for him to answer the question, his golden eyes wide as he waited for Mustang's reply.

"A new mission was brought in a couple of days ago. I specifically kept it and assigned it to you." Mustang said, waiting for the reaction. He knew better than to think that the boy wouldn't say something.

_Three…Two….One._

"WHAT! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR A MISSION! I'M NOT DOING IT MUSTANG AND YOU KNOW IT. I DID NOT JOIN THE MILITARY SO YOU CAN STICK ME WITH STUPID MISSION!" Ed exclaimed, obviously mad about the situation. Mustang however raised his hand and said.

"It's a possible lead to the Philosopher's Stone. Now if you can control your temper for a couple more minutes, I'll be able to explain. And if you can't, I'm sure I'll be able to find a suitable replacement, another state alchemist could take your place.

Immediately Ed stopped and stared at him, his golden eyes demanding an explanation. Mustang stared at Ed before giving him a folder containing his mission's requirements and task. Ed took it quickly and began reading the paper, his eyes trailing from left to right. His eyes widened as he finished reading the mission.

"Mustang, you're messing with me, aren't you?" Ed said in a monotone, " Is this your idea of a joke? And babysitting? You want to stick me with babysitting in a magical mountain? Are you serious? I don't have time for this!" he exclaimed, clearly furious.

"Castle actually. But no, Fullmetal, that mission is serious. And I can assure you, those description are not fake." Mustang told him, his own voice indifferent. Al looked from his brother's face to the Colonel's, clearly confused. Ed passed him the folder. He took it and began reading it and soon he became more confused.

"General sir, magic isn't real, it goes against all the laws of alchemy. How could it be possible that there is a school full of 'witches' and 'wizards'?" Al asked, clearly skeptical about the situation. Edward and Al Elric were both alchemist and alchemist did not use magic, it strictly used the Law of Equivalent Exchange. There was no magic or trick to using alchemy and a school full of people that performed that seemed clearly impossible.

Roy Mustang got off the seat of his desk and walked over to the two boys, his face impassive and indifferent. Catching on the message, both Al and Edward walked over to him, both knowing that the Colonel was absolutely serious about the current situation and secretive. The only person apart from the three of them in the office was Lt. Hawkeye and they all knew that she was to be trusted and she would never reveal anything without the consent of her superior and by superior it meant Roy.

Although they were alone in the room, the walls had ears too…

"Ed, this mission is undercover and very simple. You will protect a boy that is a possible target for a mass murderer that recently escaped their prison. He is attending a magic school that is hidden from the map and the view of many."

Ed shot a skeptical look at Mustang but Mustang ignored it completely.

"About the magic thing, although I cannot name the source of the power, it is very real but can be easily manipulated. There in that school, you will have to take the subjects that you are assigned and make sure that you do not reveal your identity at will. The age group that you will be in will be a year younger than you are. I believe you will easily fit in to that so you'll be placed in the third year." Ignoring Ed's "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT CRUSHED BY A TICK", Mustang placed his hand behind his back. He looked at all and continued with a sigh. "Alphonse, I'm sorry but you will not be able to attend."

Ed looked at the Roy, his face contorted into disbelief and if Al had a face, it would be similar.

"What! Al comes with me everywhere!" Edward exclaimed, raising his arms in exaggeration before crossing the over his chest. His eyes dead set against the cool indifference of his superior.

"But Brother can't do anything without getting into trouble! Who will make sure he takes care of himself if I'm not there? What if he gets put in danger? I can't just leave him without backup." Al said, earning a glare from his brother.

The Flame Alchemist stood straight, his face remaining impassive, unfazed by the complaints of the boys. Hawkeye remained neutral throughout the tirades.

"What about the Philosopher's Stone?" Ed asked suddenly trying to keep his temper in check as they brought the supposed 'lead' in question.

"The wizards succeeded in making something called the 'Sorcerer's Stone.' It grant immortality and has the alchemic reaction of turning metal into gold by passing all the laws of equivalency." Mustang began, sucking all of Ed's attention.

"But it was created by wizarding means, not alchemic. The man who made the stone died recently after the stone was destroyed." Ed's face shifted into one of disappointment, eyes downcast. "but,"-he looked up hopefully- "it was created without the same ingredients and sacrifices. It could be possible for you to make one at the time that you are there. That is all I know about the stone." Mustang ended the conversation in a low keyed monotone.

Hearing that the wizards were able to make a stone like the Philosopher's gave Ed new hope but to hear that the only sample was destroyed took some of it away. But still, to make a stone like that without the same despicable sacrifice that the stone required was tempting, especially if it helped to get Al's body back. But to go to a school where they use magic was too incredible to believe. He was an alchemist, he wasn't supposed to believe in magic and the junk that parents told their children to have them behave or a witch will come down and eat them or something? It was possible that magic came from the other side of the gate but no one knew what was there. He knew he was going to regret going on the mission like that, especially if he couldn't bring Al along but it was his only hope to make a stone with their current situation.

"Brother, I think you should go."

Ed looked at his armored brother sadly. By the sound of Al's voice he knew that he could not convince his brother otherwise.

"It's decided then." Mustang's voice came in.

The Elrics looked at the man, annoyed. Ed scoffed in disbelief. He was supposed to go to some damn school and pass as a thirteen year old and he was expected to actually learn the stuff that they taught there. The only thing that might actually be worth the trouble would be if he could learn the basics components of the stone, and he would be able to create a stone, without the sacrifices. But he knew that it would be equivalent exchange. Something would be taken at the end but he would leave that on the back of his mind until later.

The worst part of it he had to protect a kid from a murderer. Hadn't he gotten his share with a mass murderer before?

"How long is it?"

His voice was reluctant and renounced.

"A year or longer."

"..."

"..."

"What! What am I supposed to do for one whole damn year there!" Ed yelled.

"Your mission," Came the calm Colonel's reply.

"Brother, you could research there and maybe you could create the stone without all the drawbacks." Al said, his voice understanding.

"If it makes you feel any better, you will be granted permission to enter their library and learn their weren't so dead set against it, you might actually learn something useful."

But Ed was not fooled. He could tell that his brother was deeply disappointed that he would not be able to help or join him in the mission. He was about to talk but Roy beat him to the punch.

"Fullmetal, go retrieve your belongings and come back. You will depart for your mission tonight."

"What! But I barley got here, you can't do that!" Ed yelled, his golden eyes wide and furious.

Everyone in the room suddenly became attentive. They all knew what happened when Ed was angered or pissed.

The youngest Elric once again came to the rescue.

"Let's go pack your things brother. The hotel is around the block, it won't take that long." said Al, trying to keep a big commotion from happening. True, he was beyond sad that he was going to be useless for an entire year and that he wouldn't be able to help his brother but if it could help his brother get his arm and leg back he couldn't say no.

As they both walked out the door, the other alchemist's voice came in.

"No Al, I need you to stay so we could talk about your arrangements with staying here." Mustang told the armor case. Killing intent could be felt in the room coming from the youngest alchemist in history.

"It's fine Ed." Al said before Ed could explode.

Edward threw his brother a slightly reproachful gaze and the walked the hallway muttering profanity about 'the damned bastard.'

As soon as his brother was out of view he steeped into the room again. He walked right in front of the desk that belonged to his superior.

He heard Roy sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose as he let go of the emotion that he bottling in. That was when Al noticed there was more to the story that met the eye.

"There's more isn't there?" he asked as Mustang nodded. Mustang opened his eyes and began explaining the situation to the youngest Elric.

"I sent him on the mission because of where it is located. The school is hidden from view, including alchemists. Unless they are taken in by a wizard it is impossible to place. The mission is just a front for sending your brother in for a long amount of time."

Mustang sighed, placing his arms in front of him.

"I want to make sure you are aware of the gravity of the situation and the danger your brother has been in. Both homunculi and a murderer are after your brother, one to kill him and others to force him to create a stone. I don't know why the homunculi want the stone but from we know they are powerful and as powerful as they are and the power of the stone it would be catastrophic, both to Fullmetal and the State. You've seen what large-scale powerful transmutation does to average men. To your luck, Edward might actually be powerful enough to pull something like that off, but we can't let it happen. There aren't many people in the state that could survive that type of alchemy. That's where we have an advantage."

"If we can keep your brother away long enough, then we could find out what they want it for and keep them from doing so."

Alphonse sat still through the whole talk. He shifted uneasily but nodded understandingly.

"So this whole magical world Ed is going to, is there really a chance he'd be able to create a stone? Or was it just to persuade him into leaving?"

"The lead I spoke to your brother about was not made up. I was told there was little chance to actually create one, but there was also a slim chance of surviving human transmutation. If there's a chance, Fullmetal will take it."

This seemed to cheer Alphonse back up. His hunched shoulders (of the armor) rightened up and he stood straighter, paying close attention to the man's words.

"But- will he be safe?" His voice was reduced to a squeak, full of worry and sadness.

"Like I said, that school is one of the most safest and protected places in the world and I doubt Scar or the Homunculi will be able to simply waltz in there." Mustang told him, his eyes narrowed. Al began to understand.

"So you're sending him there so he could be protected?" Al asked.

"Yes. But you can't tell your brother." Roy said.

Al noted how distressed and tired the alchemist looked at and how his eyes were tired. There were light bags under his eyes and his desk was a bit of a mess with all the paperwork.

"There's one more thing." Mustang whispered, then clearly wished he hadn't.

"What is it?" Al asked, clearly intrigued by the question. Hawkeye looked at the Colonel with mild surprise and once she recovered from it, she stood straight again and waited for any instructions that he might give.

"Nothing, I was just babbling." the Alchemist said suddenly, making it obvious that he was hiding something.

Before Alphonse could say anything Mustang continued, "There is a dorm that was prepared for your stay. You're is going to be next to Havoc's so you could just ask him for the directions." Mustang said, trying to ignore Alphonse's stare.

There was a sudden _crack_.

Surprising both Alphonse and Hawkeye, a man with blue robes and long white hair came into view. He wore half moon glasses and he had a great amount of wrinkles in his face that promised long age while his blue twinkling eyes betrayed it. His stature was tall and slim and his beard almost reached his torso. His nose was long and crooked as if it had been broken a few times. He looked at Mustang and at the armored boy.

"Did I come a tad early?"

* * *

A/N: Edit: August 12, 2012:

I am semi-rewriting this story, tweeking little part but the basis of the story remains the same. I think I was fourteen when I started writing this story, I am almost seventeen. I needed to get my ass into gear and I will hopefully finish this story before I'm eighteen. So there you go :DD


	2. Dear Agony

**Disclaimer**: NO OWN, NO JOKE

* * *

Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist and vertically challenged boy was furious. Known to always act out in fury and hurt the person that was the source of the anger was his thing. Sometimes he would control his anger only to have the same person have a second crack at his height and then he'd kick their ass. There were only a few people that he would really control himself for. His brother- Alphonse, his childhood friend- Winry, and his master- Izumi. Though sometimes he'd like to think it was because he was wise and knew how to choose his battles well, he didn't because he would more-than-likely get his ass handed to him.

Not only had that Colonel Bastard of his put him in a mission that completely messed with his agenda of finding the stone, but it was also a very far away place that he had no idea existed and worst of all, Al could not come. How dare he? Who the hell did he think he is to make him come to a mission to protect some boy who had a mass murdering psycho after him?

Ed could deal with the ones coming after him, why couldn't the boy? And that's not even the worst of it, Mustang not only sent one of his subordinates, but he also sent an alchemist, who just happened to be one of the most skeptical people in the world, to a place that was full of magic, a kid's fairytale. Even if somehow magic just happened to exist, what made anyone think that he would be able to perform it? He was an ALCHEMIST dammit!

Yes, he admitted he had seen a lot of impossible things in his travels but magic? Who were they kidding? But he had a gut feeling that whatever these people are, they did have some kid if power, even if it really was- magic. And he had to spend a _year_ there and maybe longer. What the hell was he supposed to do there for an entire year, other than protect the boy and learn the stuff that the kids in that school did?

The only thing that kept him from seriously kicking Mustang's ass was the Stone. If the stone would bring Al back without the sacrifice of all those innocent people that were required to make the stone. He simply refused to make a stone when that was the price. It hurt him that he would not do that for Al, but his consciousness would get in the way.

Saying goodbye to Al was probably the hardest thing that he had to do that day. He could tell that his brother had something on his mind, but he refused to tell him what. When he had retrieved his things from the motel he had found his brother, the old man, Mustang and Hawkeye in the room in a hushed quiet that he heard before he opened the door. Alphonse…acted strangely but refused to tell him why. After a few threats to Roy ("If anything happens to Al, I'm gonna shove my foot up your ass.") and a long goodbye to Al ("If Mustang does anything bad, you kick his ass…Make sure not to get in trouble and avoid danger….Can't get a cat while I'm gone…If you find something out about the stone tell me….I WILL NOT CAUSE TROUBLE DAMMIT, I THOUGHT YOU TRUSTED ME MORE AL!…"), he grabbed his suitcase and left with the old man who looked as if he were dressed for some kind of cult party or something. He was pissed off at the fact that everything happened so sudden. In only 3 hours he had gone from looking for the stone, freshly out of the hospital, to going to a freak school that defy the laws of nature.

Currently he was walking down a street with the old man that was supposed to explain the mission details to him, and everything that he was supposed to be doing while in the school. Somehow the man had taken out an old sock and as soon as he touched it he appeared behind a building in a small tree. Apparently he had teleported them here and said it was a 'Port Key'. He didn't even know what the hell half of the subject that was explained to him was about.

"You will have some subjects with Harry but not all because we do not want to raise suspicion. Divination, the art of telling the future will be removed from you schedule due to your skeptical mind, though I myself am not very fond of it…" The Old Man told him. Dumbledore, was it?

The man was much taller than him and regarded him to be a giant in simple words. Feeling a bit irritated at his lack of height (he convinced himself that he was still growing), he could only keep a frown of his face for such a long time.

"Telling the future? As in reading cards, spooky shiny ball, all that jazz?" Ed almost scoffed. These wizards were full of crack pot ideas.

"I admit the subject is very…different from the rest, but some find it fascinating." Dumbledore told him.

Ed looked down on his list of courses before asking.

"Care of Magical Creatures…Study of Ancient Runes? Sounds interesting. Transfiguration? What's that?" asked Edward in a serious kind of voice. He did not like the sound of it.

"Transfiguration is the art of changing the shape or form of something, whether alive or inanimate." He explained. Ed got a disgusted look on his face before replying.

"You use live animals for that! How could you do that?" He said, utterly against it. Apparently the old man was ready for it.

"You could get a bird and change it into a piece of paper, but it does not harm the bird. Eventually the magic you used to feed the spell runs out and the bird changes back healthy as it was. No harm comes into the animal with Transfiguration,which is why it is stressed not to conduct spells without thoroughly understanding the theory. It is not in our best interests if you speak out against it. If you were at least a fifth-year, it would have been a choice to take the class but since we do not want to arouse suspicion-"

"Yeah, I know, I have to put up with it." The man nodded, a small smile on his lips.

The Fullmetal Alchemist looked at the alleyway that they were heading toward, hands in his pockets, indifferent and just a little wary, before something occurred to him.

"Hey, Old Man, what makes you think that I could perform magic anyway?" He asked, curious to see if this threw a wrench to all those plans.

The Headmaster suddenly stopped on his tracks, face hard, before his gave him a little smile, reaching down to be face-to-face with the boy.

"Let us not play games, Edward. I know you've seen it. The Thing." He said, before standing up straight and walking at a normal pace. Behind him, Edward was shocked, taking a moment before walking behind the man. Was he talking about what he thinks he was talking about. There is no way...

"What…what are you talking about?" He stumbled out, his golden eyes a little wider than he wanted.

The former teacher resumed walking down the alleyway and talked in a normal tone.

"The Gate. Seeing it causes a lot of things. Knowledge. You are able to transmute without a transmutation circle, something you were unable to do before you tried to perform a human transmutation. I believe that after you are granted certain abilities and I am sure that you are able to perform magic." Albus stated nonchalantly, as if speaking of the weather.

Ed walked at a slower rate, trying to figure out the puzzling explanation that the strange man had just given him. In a weird way it made sense but something that bothered him more was how the hell would a wizard like the old man know about the gate and the thing?

"And how would you know that?" asked Ed, his golden eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Dumbledore raised his hand and waved it, almost as if a sign of dismissal, "And that my boy, is a story for another day." He said in a tone that meant the conversation was over.

The Alchemist was not satisfied with that answer but knew he would go nowhere if he tried to pursue it. But was he right. Could he perform magic from the knowledge that his brain had taken in that night? It could be possible, considering he could now transmute without the circle. But magic? Even if he didn't believe in it, he had read stories about alternate, or parallel earths, where there were many similarities but fundamentally different. Maybe that's what the 'Pork Key' was for. Traveling dimensions, where instead of alchemy being the source of change and progress, it was magic, or at least what those men called their abilities. It would make so much sense, and that somehow, he would be able to amplify the magic or power into doing their bidding. Perhaps the cost of transmutation here was not the same as it was in Amestris. Was he over-thinking this?

He had seen things in the Gate, things he would never be able to coherently explain. Things that were so strange and so queer, that he knew, could not possibly belong to his world. Things he had never seen before in his life, yet somehow felt part of a whole, a whole that his world was only a part of.

They eventually found their way into a pub, located in the alleyway, dark and putrid on the outside. As soon as they walked inside the room, the environment changed completely and the cold afternoon air quickly turned into a warm homey feeling. After Dumbledore said his greeting to the shop keeper, he moved on to what seemed to be the back of the building, back into the cold air.

"What about this school? Does it have enough food for me?" he asked in a brighter tone, a grin on his face. No place had enough food for him.

"I believe there is enough food to feed you for weeks, without ever running out." He said, as they came to a stop. Ed looked quizzically at the man as he suddenly took out a long, polished, wooden stick. He began tapping the brick wall they were in front of in a funny fashion with a certain pattern (three up, two across). As he finished, he slipped the stick back inside his funny robes. He stepped back and with a sudden crack, the bricks began moving, before disappearing, leaving a person sized hole on the wall. Through the hole, stores were shown and more colors than you've ever expect almost shone through the hole.

Edward just gaped, and then quickly regained his composure. He followed the man's lead and walked in, but not before the wall already began closing. He jumped so he wouldn't get stuck with whatever the thing was.

"This is Diagon Alley." Albus told him, showing him the long street in front of him. His brain quickly began taking in the sights. Stores that he had never heard of were bustling into business as mid afternoon came in. Candy shops, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, Quality Quidditch Supplies (the hell?), Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Flourish and Blotts. _Yup_, just as he thought, _these people were crazy. There were a bunch of kids or a ages and even some older people all dressed in robes? Although it did not make a big difference, he could have sworn he saw a short person with pointy ears at the bank. The one question that stood out on his mind was: What the hell was Quidditch? Was it something you eat? Was it a bathroom or what? He shrugged off the question as curiosity got the better of him._

The man handed him the paper. "Here are the supplies you need." He passed Ed a list of the things needed, then a bag that had a jingle every time it was moved. "Here is the money that your military has provided for this 'mission' and I'll come by to pick you up the day the school year starts in the morning so we could speak about certain matters. I already set up a room for you in the Leaky Cauldron. For now the only thing you need to do is buy your wand and get all your supplies, and don't forget school starts in four days, counting today so I recommend you do not waste any time." The Man said a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. Ed just raised his eyebrow and looked around in search for a store that had to do with wooden sticks called wands.

"Ollivander's is the place for wands, just so you know." The older man said and snapped his finger, as if barley remembering something. He rummaged through his pocket and took out a crimson bag with a golden string tying it together. He handed it over to Ed, who looked at it curiously.

"This bag has an enlargement spell; it contains all the books for the materials you are taking through the second year. Mr. Mustang told you me you have a knack for research and you are a quick learner. Maybe you can catch up. But they belong to Hogwarts's library so I would prefer if you return them when the term starts." He said with a smile as Edward's face became skeptical.

He opened the bag and was incredibly surprised to see that there was a bunch of books in the bottom of the bag, which could fit in his pocket easily. There seemed to be endless space inside the bag and the books were lying in the bottom, most of them labeled by subject. There was about twenty but heknew that he was going to catch up easily, at least until he was able to grasp the magic matter.

"Well, I must be going, I have other matters to attend, but please, enjoy yourself. And one more thing," he said, raising his finger for emphasis. "Please do not cause a ruckus. There is a mass murderer on the loose and many are suspicious. Don't attract attention." He said before disappearing in a crack. Of course Ed was too distracted by one of the books that he had begun reading. He turned around to see the old man gone.

Shrugging he walked toward the Leaky Cauldron, where a room was ready for him. He asked about the room to a strangely hunchbacked bald man named Tom. He escorted him through the place, on his way seeing many of the wizards, hell he had even saw a moving picture, and they stopped at a room. After he had told Tom that he was fine, the man left and he went inside his room. It was homey and the bed was queen sized with soft beige blankets. The window was opened, leaving a red haze as the sun set in the horizon, marking the end of the day. There was a small bathroom placed on the opposite side of the room and there was a desk with candles placed on all four corners, apparently to give the user some light during the use of the desk.

Ed sighed as he instantly jumped to bed, sighing as he thought of what the hell he was doing there. He felt sort of empty inside without Al there and not trying to do anything to find the crimson stone. Al should be here; he thought as he shifted his weight on his stomach and lay in bed. In hopes to clear his head, he took out everything that had to do with his mission.

He took out the tiny bag that contained about one hundred coins. All Golden. He wondered what the hell they were and why would they put so much value for those coins. There were a few other coins, some bronze while others were silver. How the hell he was supposed to tell the value of each, he did not know. A piece of paper stuck out the bag in the bottom. Reading:

_The golden coins are Galleons, worth 17 Sickles, the silver ones who are worth 29 Knuts which are the bronze. There are for your school supplies and robes._

_So its money_, he thought as he put the paper away along with the coins and placed them safely by his side. He took out his supplies list and began reading it. He apparently needed a wand, robes, and weird ingredients for potions, a cauldron, and some other things. A wand? He had a funny feeling about a wand, but also about what the old man had said regarding to his use of magic. How was he supposed to believe that he could perform magic but some minor percent of his brain accepted magic while the logical side kept wondering about its origin and how it worked? Maybe it was a natural force among a few people (like the wizards) and could only be used by some. Alchemy was different. It could be taught to anyone intelligent enough to understand the use of transmutation and smart enough not to commit anything forbidden and stupid.

He looked at his classes list. He had Potions, Herbology, and Defense against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astronomy, Charms, Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. He had to admit that some of them sounded incredibly interesting (especially Runes and Defense against the Dark Arts) but some of them were just plain weird. Nine classes in one whole day. That was a lot, but since school was around the whole day he considered it ok as long as he had some time to sleep and research. He chuckled as he remember his school days where he spent most of the time talking to Al about Alchemy and sleeping with Winry during class. He had had fun except for the learning part. The teacher usually kept them slowly progressing and slowly explaining the main things like reading and writing but he and Al usually caught up really fast. But it frustrated him to a breaking point when someone made attempts to stop him from learning what he wanted to know, not some useless things.

He noticed as he put the paper away that there were two pieces of paper attached behind his classes. One was Mustang's as he recognized the bastard's handwriting and one seemed to be an official document as it had the seal of the school on it. He opened Mustang's first and read it.

_Fullmetal,_

_First things first, don't SCREW up the mission or get yourself into fights unless it with a mass murdering man named Black. Do your best to lie as low and you could and do not, I repeat, do not attract attention to yourself. Your reckless and annoying nature is sure to get on the professor's attention, even they would be surprised to find a loud voice in such a tiny body (" WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE COULD LIVE UNDER A MUSHROOM!…."__), and you can't perform alchemy unless asked to by a higher official. As I understand Professor Dumbledore told few about the mission so I expect you to be on your best behavior and listen. Do not make me look bad. About the stone, do not tell anyone and try to find it as fast as you can, in the school at least. Send me a monthly report of what is happening and any news of the stone. Enclosed with this letter is a form to allow you to visit a wizarding town near the school once in a while. Try to keep out of trouble. Be careful, Black looks dangerous considering he murdered 13 people, as the wizard say, and I do not want any paperwork concerning your death. This letter is enough. I do not believe that showing your automail should be a very bright idea._

_Signed Colonel Roy Mustang, Future Führer._

_P.S: I heard that owls are used to pass messages, do you think that they could train a dog to do the same?_

Ed couldn't stop from a full frown coming onto his face as he put the letter down and growled. Was Mustang expecting him to screw up? Had he ever messed up a mission? Perhaps once? But that didn't mean that he would mess up every mission. He looked a second paper and found that it was indeed a permission slip to go to another town, Hogsmeade. He sighed, _this year was not gonna be simple, he thought as he out his things away in his brown briefcase._

He looked around himself and his bed. '_Looks comfy enough_,' he thought as he fell asleep promptly, falling into the rare dreamless darkness.

* * *

Another day started as everything suddenly turned clear on the mind of the alchemist, leaving him groaning. His eyes flicked to the noise that had awakened him from his deep and loving slumber. His bed covers were spread against his torso as he realized that he had removed his red cloak during the night and had forgotten to take off his shoes, and his leather pants and shirt. Another knock was heard before Tom's voice drowned it out.

"Breakfast!" was heard and it only took that one word for him to be at the door in a second, all shame forgotten. The hunchbacked man entered the room, carrying a tray full of sandwiches and bacon with other varieties of food. He bowed before placing the food on the table in the room before leaving.

"After you finish breakfast, you may leave the plate in the kitchen downstairs." He said, leaving through the door. Ed raised his eyebrows at the courtesy before closing the door and sitting down on the wooden table and sinking his teeth to the first sandwich that was in his reach. When his eyes started watering because he was eating so fast and thereby chocking. His eyes trailed to the cup of what seemed to look like orange juice (after he made sure that it was not milk) and quickly chucked it down along with his food.

After a while he was surprisingly full, which was rare, and was walking down the stairs of the Leaky Cauldron with his tray, his hair done into its usual braid and his red cloak trailing behind him as he was ready to start shopping for his things. In his pockets were the list of the things and books he needed and his money. He had learned the money system fairly easy and everything was simple.

After he turned in his plate at the kitchen that was partly full of weird clothes wearing people and a few creepy looking people, he went outside to begin his search.

He walked down the street with his hands in his pocket, his eyes taking in the sights and his brain memorizing everything that was passing by. He did notice that he did receive a few stares but not as many as he thought. Since they all wore funny clothes they couldn't say anything against his red cloak.

The first thing on his list was his 'wand'. He searched the nearby stores, which most of them weren't even hard to find because of their particular sense of advertisement and remember the name that the Old Man had given him. Ollivander.

His golden eyes looked at the passing stores until he finally found one that had the name Ollivander: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. He nearly scoffed but reminded himself that this was completely different from the rest of the places that he had ever seen and until he knew how it worked he would not completely mock it or disrespect it.

He entered it and looked around. The shop was relatively small and seemed even smaller because small, long boxes took over half the shop's space. The only thing there that looked recognizable to him was a chair in the corner. There were two people inside, a red headed tall boy with freckles and a girl with bushy, brown hair. They both looked at him as he entered the store and he immediately looked for the wandmaker.

"C'mon Ron, get your wand already." said the girl as she tapped her foot on the ground impatiently.

"Blimey Hermione, just wait a little. With all the classes that you're taking, finding all those books isn't going to be easy, just wait." He said before stopping as a man came from the other side of the store with silver eyes and a wise intelligent look on his face that honestly freaked out Ed, holding a long box in his hands. His eyes shifted to Edward but he attended the tall kid first.

"Here you go. 14' made of fine willow wood and unicorn hair as a core. Give it a wave!" he commanded as the kid -Ron- clumsily gave it a small wave. Sparks came out of the tip, classifying the boy as the wand's owner.

"Excellent!" said the man as the boy smiled at the prospect of a new wand. After he paid the older man, the couple left the shop, leaving Edward behind in the store. The golden haired boy moved forward but before he could say anything the man beat him to the chase.

"Looking for a wand? Are you left handed or right handed?" He asked quickly while circling the alchemist.

"Ambidextrous." answered Ed as his right arm was suddenly pulled into the man's face as he inspected it. He was wearing his usual white gloves that hid his automail. Before he could make a move to take his arms back, the man looked at him wisely and said.

"Fake Arm? Does it work as good as your left arm?" He asked, not even looking like he wanted answers for why the boy had a fake arm.

"Yes." He answered as he pulled his arm back. Ok, he was getting pissed off. Hell, even he had better manners than this man, and that was saying something. Did all wizards do that?

The man took out a small measuring tape and began measuring him, up down, side to side and some other ways he didn't know existed.

After a few minutes of getting measured, and a fuming Edward later, the man finished and without a word he went to the other side of his store.

_What a weirdo_, he though, fists clenched. He looked skeptically at the wands that were for show in the store and wondered what they were made of. If magic was a type of natural force then it should be manipulated somehow to control it. Maybe, like his State Alchemist Watch, it enhanced and amplified the energy, forcing the magic to come out in the wanted way. This was the device the wizards used to amplify their magic and produce their 'spells'. His thought suddenly stopped as the man held three boxes in his hands. One large, another large and a medium. He carefully opened the first box containing a long polished stick that looked like it was made out black wood.

"Here, give it a wave." He said as he handed the vertically challenged boy the wand. Ed took the wand and gave it a wave using his real hand. He felt a tiny shock as a force came out of the wand, hitting the chair in the corner, destroying it. Ed scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a grin on his face as he returned the wand. That was test was proving his theory that magic was a natural force that was manipulated by the user's will, even though the whole wand thing was weird. Eh, he'll think about it later.

The man opened the next box but then instead of giving it to Edward he studied, and with a nod he put it away. He opened the last box with hesitation and studied the wand.

"11' made of strong yew and Threstal Hair, very interesting. Here, try this one," he said as he handed over the wand to Edward. Unlike the other wand, this one gave his fingers a warm feeling and felt more…familiar, if that was possible. He gave the wand a short wave and a breeze left the tip of the wand, a reddish golden mix of color. Ollivander looked thoroughly surprised.

"I haven't sold one of these wands in decades. Thestral Hair? You must have had quite a past. The last Threstal haired wand I sold was about 50 years ago. Are you by chance related to Van Hohenheim?" asked the wandmaker to the fourteen year old boy.

Ed froze. Van Hohenheim? He almost hissed out the name of the bastard who had ditched his family a long time ago. What the hell would he be doing in a wizarding world? He was an alchemist, like himself.

"I see the name ringed a bell. He looked like you, same hair and eyes. Maybe he could be your grandfather or even father?" He said but then trailed off as he kept his eyes on the wand.

"So is this it? Can I leave already?" He asked in an almost bite tone as he paid 9 Galleons for the wand and left the place. Out of all the places to hear his father's name, it had to be the nutcrack world?

Trying to avoid anymore pissed off situation, he calmed himself down and stuck to the task at mind. All he had to for the day was get the books and the ingredients for the Potion's class. He also needed robes and a hat. Seriously, a hat?

Finding the book store was probably as easy as finding a shop could get. Flourish and Blott's was locates at the end of a street and had many kids that seemed to be about his age coming in and out. As he walked in, his curiosity rose as he found many of the books he need plus more. As soon as he collected the books he needed (Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, Hogwarts a History….), he fed his imagination by looking at the books that were on the shelves. He read through the summaries in the back and was genuinely interested by the way the people used magic to do the simplest things, but there were some books that rivaled the complication of human transmutation. He finally stopped at a corner where there were books on the subject that he had scoffed at. Divination. The girl with the brown hair that he had seen in the wand shop was there, reading the introduction to Divination. Glad that he hadn't gotten the class, he took the book and read the summary in the back, trying to see what he would be missing out on. He read the back rather quickly and soon began reading the first chapter. Apparently, according to the book, you could tell your future by drinking tea and tea leaves. Also, you could tell your future by gazing into a crystal ball. What a load of crap.

He put the book down with a sigh. Something else came to his attention. The girl was looking at curiously.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger." She introduced herself. Knowing he shouldn't be rude he introduced himself.

"Edward Elric, Nice to meet you." He said.

"Are you going to be attending Hogwarts this year?" She asked in a pleasant tone.

"Yeah."

"First Year?" She asked.

"Nope, Third." He answered. Hermione seemed surprise by this. Her brown eyebrows furrowed in confusinon.

"Are by chance an Exchange Student?" She asked. "Or are you starting late? I've never heard of anyone starting later than 12."

"Nah, I'm starting late. Had a few problems these past two years and I decided to come to Hogwarts. I'm already caught up with the materials." Or at least he was going to be caught up with the materials.

"Oh. Are you going to take Divination for your elective?" She asked as her gaze returned to the book in her hand.

Ed waved his hand. "Nah, I'm too skeptical for that kind of stuff." He answered. He looked down on his arms were he was carrying all his books for his other subjects.

"Me too but I think it might be interesting. I mean, what if it is really possible to tell the future by drinking tea, and reading palms, and gazing at balls…" She said word after word more disbelievingly. She apparently hadn't convinced herself yet that the subject was worth it. Ed looked at her and her books and knew that she was a smarty smart person and that she could help him. Although his pride didn't want to ask for help, his brain told him otherwise.

"Um, if it's not too much of a bother, do you think that you could explain these things to me?" He asked, raising the' _Hogwarts, a History book up. He truly didn't get it that much. And she seemed like a nice person, though he didn't think that she trusted him. He could tell by looking at her that she was as skeptical as him when it came to a few things. At least she would be able to explain it to him. Her clothing was as normal as normal could be._

Hermione looked at him strangely for a minute and then smiled.

"Sure, how about tomorrow at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour at 10 in the morning. I'm not doing anything then." She said a smile on her face.

"Ok. Thank, I really appreciate it." All he needed to do now was find out where the hell that place was at.

"No problem. I have to go, see you tomorrow." She said, leaving the store after paying for her mountain of books.

What Edward failed to notice was the blush that decorated her face the entire time.

* * *

**Author's Note**: I thought I might as well fixed all the chapters so far, since it's been two years since I have even thought about finishing this story. If there are any inconsistencies, please tell me. I just remembered how frustrating it was to write in Ed's point of view. He's a bitch to write :p Like, no joke.

Hermione just blushed cause Ed's pretty and charismatic. Pretty boys? Get it?

By the way, if this is a new reader, or an old one with a bad memory, NO PAIRING, NO JOKE.


	3. Anthem of the Angels

**Disclaimer:** NO OWN, NO JOKE.

* * *

He sighed as he turned the last page of the book and put it down. Was everything really that simple? After finishing _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration _, he immediately knew that these things were simple. All he knew was that he better do good on this subject because he's would be ashamed of being called the youngest alchemist in the military. But the only problem was that according to the rules in the wizarding world, he was not allowed to test out the learning unless he was in school , in fear that the 'Muggles' would see them, so all he had was theory but even that was good enough. Whatever a 'muggle' was he wished to know because that term came up a few times in the books he was reading, especially _Hogwarts, a History_. Hell, he even looked up the word but apparently all wizards knew what it meant so it was not necessary for them to put it.

He fumed, after spending the last six hours locked up in his room at the Leaky Cauldron, he managed to read all the Hogwarts textbooks and even read the introductions to his new ones. The things that interested him the most were Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures. They all sounded interesting and actually worth learning.

He had actually been very wary of Transfiguration, but the theories were simple, at least compared to most of alchemy. Turns out, with every spell cast, a small amount of energy coming from the body is used to complete the spell, which was why wands were used. They amplified the energy and, due to its malleable nature, it was finished with an incantation, or the wizard's thoughts. Wandless magic was a very hard thing to do, not to mention draining...just like alchemy. Apparently, it is not a wizard's words that form the spell, but their thoughts and intentions as the energy is ejected. It made sense.

His days were a bore. He only left his room to take a fast shower and for dinner Tom had been kind enough to call him down when dinner was served to the guest and he found a few things were incredibly interesting: food and the Weasleys.

As he walked downstairs he noticed that there were two tables put together and a whole bunch of redheads. He saw that most of them were talking constantly to each other, or fighting about something. They seemed to be a family, except for a black haired boy who was sitting with them.

Knowing that they were none of his business, he walked to the kitchen where many types of food were laid out for the people who were residing in the hotel like place. He eagerly got a plate and served himself a mini mountain on his plate, taking advantage of the small hotel's hospitality. Walking back up to his room, he met two people that he could tell were in for trouble.

Two taller redheads were hiding behind a wall, cowering and snickering. Suddenly across the room, something containing liquid exploded, causing the boy's whose soup the tiny bomb was in go flying around, spraying him across his entire front. Said boy began to shriek at the sight of a badge that was proudly presented on his chest, was suddenly wet and slightly dirtied. A smirk crossed over his face at the sight of the teenager yelling and running upstairs to polish his badge. Suppressing a snicker as the boy passed him on his way, he looked at the two redheads who looked eerily alike. Twins, he thought.

The alchemist started walking upstairs and looked back at the family, who were laughing at the sudden adventure. He smiled and felt his heart break slightly as he remembered what he felt every time he was with his family all those years ago…when it was only his mom and his brother, their small happy family in their own happy world. The smirk soon disappeared as he felt the heartache coming, his golden eyes became distant and unfocused as he walked inside his room, and went to his bed, his food in hand.

He ate slowly, swallowing each bite quietly and slowly, in contrast of his usual eagerness. He felt a deep pit on his stomach, making it harder to swallow. His thought went to Al. He had almost never been this far away from Alphonse in his life, only on few exceptions but almost never. If he could barely handle being on his own without him for a few days,, how the hell was he supposed to handle a year like that. He had heard Mustang say that Alphonse could visit him during vacations in Hogwarts, which was in the winter time, a long time from now.

After he finished his meal and brought it back downstairs, before going back into his room. He sat down and took out a struggling hairy thing from under the bed that he had a fight with earlier. _The Monster Book of Monsters _sat on his lap struggling against the pressure that the leather strap that contained it. Getting this book from the bookstore was a great challenge, he even had to transmute his cloak because the thing had shredded it completely and he was lucky that he had grabbed it with his automail hand because he doubted that his flesh hand would have survived the grab. The book seemed to be alive and kicking. He figured that if a monster was a book, that was supposed to be read without having the reader's face bitten off. He inspected it, knowing that there had to be a secret to opening the book, and he was never one to like riddles or names. He ran his hand against the back if the book and felt the book give a little shudder but nothing more. He raised his eyebrow as a triumph look came across his face. He ran his hands closer to the spine and the monster thing stopped momentarily and then begun again, with more reluctance. He put his flesh hand against the spine of the book and the thing looked as if it had given up.

He carefully and cautiously removed the leather strap from the book and the book opened for him, amazingly the pages weren't in little shreds of pieces like he imagined them to be. He soon began reading the book in a fast pace, just skimming through it. Animals in the book were different from what he was used to but they had a lot of interesting tones. There was hippogriffs, unicorns (he almost scoffed until he remembered it might actually be true), and dragon all the way in the back, probably for advanced students. Eh, he'd have time to read this later, at least in class.

He recalled what his mission objective was and his name was Sirius Black. He could tell that the man was feared by the way that they were wary in the shops and stores. There wasn't a store in the town that didn't have a wanted poster on it, and since he was a mass murdered he had a feeling he knew why.

He looked at the clock on his desk and found that it was already late. He'd have to wake up early to se the girl (Hermione?) and _finally_ have someone explain all this hocus pocus stuff to him, at least what he didn't understand.

Putting all his things away, he fell in bed. Laying on his back his raised his automail arm and looked at it with a faraway look. This brought up another problem. The old man had mentioned that he was going to share a room with five other boys, if that was so, how was he going to hide his automail? He had his gloves to hide his automail arm and the cloak that was worn covered his entire abdomen and arms so that wouldn't be a problem. But the biggest problem that he saw was how he was going to change every morning without the five other boys seeing the obvious metal limbs he had.

The only things on his list tomorrow were the animal, which was optional, and his meeting with Hermione.

Without another thought, he fell asleep.

* * *

_Where the hell is that place?_

He thought as he walked down the narrow alley and what seemed to be the food court of the town. There were hundreds of people coming in and out of stores, each with their strange assortments of food.

He was incredibly panicky at the moment. He had overslept by an hour and he was supposed to see the girl 10 minutes ago. He wore his red robe and his normal leather outfit. He would not say that he was an odd sight compared to the rest of the people, so he worried not.

"_EDWARD_!" Came a voice from behind him. Almost as instinct he looked and saw that Hermione was walking toward him. Smiling sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment. He walked over to her and apologized for being late.

"Sorry. I kinda overslept and got lost. He He." He laughed nervously and saw that the girl wasn't mad, like he expected her to be. In contrary, she smiled.

"It's ok. I kind of ran into a problem and I thought I was late. So let's get to the ice cream store. You could ask me what you want there. Ok?" She asked. Ed nodded and let her take the lead and followed her silently. He didn't know the way but he guessed that she did.

Five Minutes later, they were both sitting down in a plastic table. Hermione had chocolate ice cream in front of her while Edward had a cupcake the shape of a impish, elfish animal that looked quite realistic but he opted that over ice cream full of milk.

They were both quiet in the first few minutes but then Edward began a conversation.

He looked thoughtfully at his cupcake before asking.

"What's a Hufflepuff?" He had read something about that in the Hogwarts, a History book but had given up trying to understand what it meant. It said that it was a person then that it was a house? What that meant, he did not know.

She looked up from her cup and answered enthusiastically.

"Hufflepuff is one of the four houses in Hogwarts. In the beginning of your first term, you're sorted into one of houses. Hufflepuff usually takes in honesty and loyal people. There is also three other houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Usually when you are chosen into one of the houses, there are certain traits that are you have to have that reflect on your house." She explained, licking her ice cream, and looking over to him see if he understood.

He scratched his head, "I thought Hufflepuff was a person." He stated, confusion obvious in his voice. Was this school seriously going to be this confusing? He had studied Alchemy, on of the most hardest subjects on earth and had become a prodigy, but that was only because he and Al had worked hard enough, and yet something as simple as a school was as weird and confusing as Armstrong.

"Well, the four houses were named after their founders. The founder of Hufflepuff was a remarkable woman with the name of Helga Hufflepuff. Salazar Slytherin was the founder of Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw was the one for Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor was Gryffindor's . They were all the founders of the school actually." She said, finding it odd that someone who was going to Hogwarts didn't understand something that was so fundamental to the school, but found it sort of refreshing to know that she could tell someone new about it without being thought of know-it-all.

"So, what house are you in?" Asked the alchemist finishing the treat he was eating. He wondered what house he would be sorted in…

"Oh. I'm in Gryffindor."

Damn, the thought.

Hermione, noticing Ed's scowling face, asked what was wrong.

"Huh? Oh nothing. I was just wondering what house I was gonna end up in. Is Slytherin any good?" He asked. He had a bad feeling in his stomach as he saw a frown appear in her face.

"Slytherin students tend to be…jerks with superiority complex issues." She said, the frown never leaving her face.

"Why?"

She hesitated. Edward could tell she really did not like them. The way she described them reminded him completely about Mustang.

"Most of them are pure blooded wizards and they do not like people like me." She said, in an almost cold voice. Like a doctor stating a fact, with no typed of attachments to the patient.

"Like you?"

Ok, by now Ed was beginning to realize that wizards weren't exactly very different from people back home. Apparently bastards-which he would have rather avoided, or he would not hold himself responsible for anything he would do- were also on this side of the planet.

"Yes, like me. You see, I'm Muggle-born and to them I'm filth. It doesn't matter to me though." She said on a happier note. She used that word that had confused the alchemist to end.

"Muggle. What does that mean anyway?" He asked. Hermione stared.

"Muggle means non magical people. Everyone who goes to Hogwarts is either a witch or a wizard because they could perform magic. But some of their parents aren't of magical blood. But some come from full wizarding families, like most of the Slytherin. And then they get the idea that Muggle-borns are…of lower class. Trash to say it nicely." She said, as she thought of a certain platinum blond.

Edward just gazed. Damn, was the world seriously like that. In this world did everything depend of what house you're in and what blood are you? It wasn't much different at home but he had grown up in Risembool and had always been protected from those types of uglies in the outside world.

"So Edward, what about your parents? Were they wizards too?" she asked curiously.

The alchemist blinked. Well, that was unexpected. His mom wasn't a witch but what was he supposed to tell her? That he was pure blood? Or a Muggle Born? Eh, he didn't want to look like a jerk and considering all the things he'd have to make up if he said he were pureblood.

"My mom isn't a witch, I'm Muggle-Born I guess." He told her, not lying but not telling the truth either. The mention of Hohenheim the day before was still fresh in his mind. What did that bastard have to do with these people? He doubted he'd ever know.

"Oh. So what do you think about magic so far?" She asked, on a happier note.

"Eh." Was all that came out of his mouth. How did he feel about magic? That was a stupid question. Remember Edward, I have to fit in. No funny stuff, not a thing to make yourself stand out.

"Seeing you didn't grow up in the Wizarding World a skeptical response is believable. When I first got my letter, I thought someone had pulled a prank me. But once you see and experience it, you believe it. I mean, Diagon Alley should be enough , look at it." Hermione told him, signaling around her at her last statement.

Ed chuckled. Eh, it's true, he thought because it seemed the more he experienced it, the more believable it was to him.

Noticing Edward's far off look, Hermione raised her eyebrow. Ed, being the smart person he is, noticed it and decided to keep the conversation going.

"So, before you were accepted into Hogwarts, where did you attend?" She asked.

"I-um- I didn't go to any other school. You could say I was home schooled?" Ed more asked than stuttered. Alright he needed to come up with a good damn story because the old man didn't tell him shit about what he was supposed to say, only to stay out of trouble.

"Oh, well that's odd. Underage magic isn't allowed much anywhere. Perhaps you had gotten permission from the Ministry of Magic."

"Uh-huh. Yeah." _Whatever you say. _

"Were the school houses the only problem you had?" she asked, as she finished her ice-cream and threw away the cup.

"There's this one thing. What's it called?" He asked himself, as he tried to remember something that he had read in that damned _Hogwarts, A History _book but couldn't remember.

"Ne, can't remember the damned thing. Damn it!" He exclaimed as his memory was foggy about that one certain thing he had been extremely confused about.

"Maybe you can look it up once you arrive to school. It'll be easier and you can ask a lot of teachers to explain anything to you. Most have been working at Hogwarts for a long time and know a lot of things that go on in the castle." She said, trying to help. Ed just nodded, rather grumpily.

A thought fell into his head as he remembered something he had to, but not that he was looking forward to. To look for one of those messenger owls. That way he could constantly report to Mustang, that is if they worked the way Dumbledore had told him.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing, I have to go buy an owl. Do you know where they sell 'em?"

"Owls in particular are sold at Eeylops Owl Emporium a street away from here. I got my cat yesterday but I had thought of getting an owl. They're really useful, especially for sending mail." She informed him as they started walking together to the destined place.

As she told him more and more about owls, Ed paid attention because he did not want to raise suspicion at school that he had no idea what the hell magic was or anything about the way anything works. But even then, he doubted he would never raise suspicion or attention. He had a tendency of doing things with a bang. And according to what Hermione was saying, owls were the best to own because they had a natural ability of sending mail and retrieving packages from somewhere. They were loyal, depending on the owner, and had a great since of direction. A cat was apparently also allowed but it was not as dependent as the owl and so was a toad. Made him wonder what would happen if he got a cat but he knew that Al would never forget him. Maybe he should have let Alphonse get a cat…for company if he ever got lonely…

"And here is Eeylops Owl Emporium, it has many different species and types of owls, really good quality." Said the girl as they arrived to the noisy place. The store in question was full of cages, which contained birds. The owls looked a lot more tame than he had thought of them, some of them looked more dignified, proud and beautiful than the rest.

As he looked around, there was one owl that caught his eye more than the rest. It was medium sized compared to the rest. It looked like a snowy owl yet it wasn't because of the color of the wings. The feathers were a deep amber color and it's eyes are what stood out the most. It's posture looked shy, as it stood in the corner of its cage, its head bowed. Yet it's eyes shows a more dignified animal, but at the same time wide and shy. Unlike the rest of the messenger birds, it stood quietly in its cage, but at the same time looked depressed about being caged in somewhere. Something Ed had always disliked were caged animals, just waiting to be sold, instead of being released like they were supposed to be in the first place.

He walked over to it cage and stuck its finger in the small space between the bars . The bird edged away at first, looking scared at him, but after seeing his non aggression, it skipped a little nearer, finally giving his gloved finger a quick nibble. Edward smiled.

* * *

Ten minutes later, he stood in the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron, a cage with a certain amber bird inside of it and Hermione at his side, looking curiously at the bird.

"It looks beautiful. I wish I would have gotten an owl, but I'd rather have Crookshanks." She said, while she had her finger nipped by the happy looking bird.

"Hehe." chuckled Ed as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow in Hogwarts." He told her.

"Yes. Maybe we'll see each other in the train. I could introduce you to my friends. Maybe you are sorted into Gryffindor and we're gonna be in the same house. Either way, I hope I see you around." She said, both walking inside the pub.

"Bye."

"See Ya!"

Edward Elric slowly walked inside his room, carrying the white metal cage behind him. As soon as he reached his bed he slowly opened the door of it's cage and cooed the bird into coming out. The owl did not need a lot of convincing before coming out of its metal container and rested on Ed's straight automail finger, stretching it's wings.

As Ed eyed the bird curiously, he thought of all the things he learned and of what he had to do. When he thought about, what house was he gonna be in? Damn, it was too complicated e just wished he wasn't with the people with god complexes, that would just cause trouble. What if he was in Hufflepuff? Loyal and Hardworking? Or Ravenclaw (whatever the hell that house valued) or Gryffindor with Hermione? Eh, he'll think about that later. He had everything ready for the start of the term but he was worried about what Dumbledore had told him. He was supposed to pick him up the following day in the morning, so would he be here in the morning to take him to the oh so wonderful school of his? He supposed that they had to talk about the mission that they had come for.

As he placed the bird on the nightstand, with it's cage open, he decided it be best to skip dinner and go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning was simpler than he had first thought. Dumbledore had come to get him in the morning, after he had taken a shower and dressed in his robes. He was waiting outside of his apartment, patiently waiting for him to appear.

"I trust that you are caught up with the work?" He asked pleasantly.

"Yeah, Yeah. I read all the books you gave me. What now? How do we get to the school?" Edward asked, rather impatiently. Dumbledore took no notice at his antics and answered calmly.

"We are going to using a port key that is used to automatically transport to Hogwarts. Took me a bit of convincing the minister that I needed a Port-Key but he allowed it. Now, where are you belongings?" The headmaster said, looking around. Ed pointed at the big trunk placed at the end of his bed with a sleeping owl in it's cage above it.

The old man walked over to it, took out his wand and pointed it at the trunk. With a spark the trunk and everything it were gone. If he wasn't used to all this funny shit happening to him right now, Ed would have even asked where all his things were.

"I sent your things over to the my office. After you are sorted into your house, then you can take them to your room. Please, I would like to hurry. The first day of the term is, after all, very important and I would not like to leave you confused about anything." He looked around his pockets and smiled as he found what he was looking for. He present Ed with a small watch.

"This is a Port-Key. It is set to leave 10 seconds after it is first touched. Please place your hand so we could be off." Ed raised an eyebrow but did what he was told.

In less than three seconds, he felt an unnatural and sick feeling in his stomach as like he was hooked in the navel. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see whatever was going on but held tightly. Everything was spinning but he ignored it but his stomach didn't. Had he eaten breakfast he would have thrown up.

In a matter of eternal seconds, it stopped and he felt himself land on his feet by a stroke of luck. Had he been in any other position, he would have fallen face first. He looked up and saw the old man there. But the small smile was no longer there. In fact, his twinkling blue eyes showed cold anger as he reached for the stick in his robes.

Around him he saw a gate, with a Hogwarts mark on it, surely an entrance for the magic school. As if he had been thrown in a bath of ice cold water, with nothing to keep him warm._ Something is wrong..._

He suddenly felt himself go cold as his golden eyes saw a cloaked figure heading his way…a disgusting scabby hand suddenly withdrew from the cloak as it edged near him…He could feel it's cold breath as it edged nearer and nearer…Nothing was right…

Everything was cold…

He was being dragged down...by the darkness...

Places and things came rushing back into his head…none were pleasant…

He felt himself drown in whispers and talks…

As if he had been thrown into an endless black pit, with nothing but the worse...

He heard a scream, and then another...

And without a word he felt the world go black but his head turned into a nightmare.

* * *

**Author's Note**: I didn't change much in chapter, mostly the little things, like Ed's understanding of magic and what not. Guess what the owl reminds him of? :D


	4. Give me a Sign

**Disclaimer**: NO OWN, NO JOKE.

* * *

He put on a brave smiling face, refusing to believe what he was seeing. He grasped on her hand tighter, refusing to let her.

_ What she was saying was nonsense. She couldn't leave, he didn't want her to. Was she going to leave them all alone? She was being silly, there was no way that his mother, the most beautiful and most caring person he had ever met was gonna die. She, who always treated them kinder than anyone else, who always did her best to keep the family going. No, there was not a chance that was really going to die, right?_

_"Edward, would you be a sweetheart and transmute something for your mother, a ring of flowers will be nice." He tightened his grip, as he felt her grip on their hands slowly begin to slacken. Her brown eyes, suddenly began to glaze over, as death's embrace began to envelope her. _

_"You see… your father use to always make them for me." And with that, she let go. _

* * *

His hands were on the ground, as he sat on his knees, waiting for the alchemy to finish what he had created.

_Everything went wrong as the golden transmutation light turned a dark purple color. His golden eyes widened as he saw that the long awaited transmutation was not working. _

_He blinked and found himself in a pure white room, the only thing visible was a sort of door that was presented in front of him. He looked behind himself and saw the outline of a person, grinning right at him. _

_Information suddenly rushed into his head, bringing memories of the past and new things he had not even thought about before. He felt like his brain was on fire, unable to fully comprehend the entire amount of information that clogged his brain. _

_He opened his eyes again as he saw a terrible sight…one that he would never in his life forget…or let itself be forgotten._

_"BROTHER!" He looked in front of him and saw his younger brother being dragged away by hundreds of little black hands. He was desperate, he couldn't lose his brother. _

_"AL!" He screamed, reaching out in hopes of grabbing his brother, but he felt something crawling on his leg. The same ones that were dragging away Alphonse were now crawling on his leg, almost as if eating it away. As it began to disappear he felt the pain as the stump of a leg began to bleed profusely, with no signs of stopping. _

_He tried his best to get Al back but the little things had now taken away most of his body and only the hand remained before disappearing too. _

_"AL!" He yelled. No, it couldn't be possible. He did not just lose his little brother. He reached forward but fell on his stomach as the stump refused to support him. _

_He had to get his brother back. No matter the price, he could not lose the only person that mattered to him. _

_A sound brought him out of his shock as it sounded like an animal being chocked. _

_The figure of a hand came up in the air, the rest of the body hidden from sight because of the smoke. Ed looked at it, his mom…_

_The tiny desperate smile left his lips as he saw the true figure of the thing in front of him. That was not his mom…_

_He screamed._

_Whether it was that his mind was suddenly becoming clearer or that he was going insane, he dragged himself and his bloody leg over to the opposite side of the room, to where a suit of armor was proudly standing. Using the blood of his leg, he drew a blood seal, even though he had no idea how. This would be the first time he had ever done anything like that, but he had no choice. There was no way in hell he was gonna give up. He did not care of the price, he had to get Alphonse back even if it cost him his life. _

_He felt his arms being taken away slowly and painfully but he did not care. As the armor breathed to life, he lost the ability to comprehend anything. _

* * *

The alchemist stood in front of the deranged alchemist, and the chimera nest to him, staring at him blankly.

_It moved as it cocked its head to the side. _

_"Bwig Bwother?"_

_Nina…_

* * *

The psychotic butcher walked over to him, a crazed look on his face. He raised his large butcher knife and embedded it on his shoulder as the sick bastard told him his fantastic tales about how he saw alchemist killing in cold blood. The helplessness rising inside of him as he saw no way to escape the murderer.

_Realizing that no one but his brother and himself were going to protect each other. Sacrificing himself to the military so that he could one day get their bodies back. He was an alchemist…but he couldn't even help a little girl. The horrible truth that some alchemists were indeed cold murderers and that alchemy wasn't always used to help the people…_

* * *

The Fullmetal Alchemist gasped as he looked like a man that just saw death in the eye and returned. His chest rising up and down he tried to find out were he was. The room was a bigger room that his at the Leaky Cauldron but it had the form of an office, books behind the desk and many bright looking instruments decorated the walls and furniture.

His short uneven breathing slowly turned to normal but no fast enough. Everything that he had just seen…everything was now clearly in his head, reopening old wounds and pains. He felt a tear go down his cheek as he remembered every one of the parts of the memory he had just see…his mother…Nina…

"Are you awake, Mister Elric?" Asked a voice as Dumbledore walked into the room wearing a fancy red cloak, his beard trailing on behind him.

"Yea-Yeah. I-I am." Edward shivered. Everything felt cold to the touch. "What happened?"

Dumbledore looked solemnly at the ground. "I apologize, it was my fault. When we arrived, it was at Hogwarts entrance. This year, because of Sirius Black, dementors were stationed at every entrance and exit of this school. I did not realize that when we would arrive, they would feast on you. I apologize." He said, his blue eyes looking down.

"Here, take some chocolate. It helps." The old man said, handing him a rather large piece of chocolate, but he did not eat but stared at him.

Edward's eyebrow's furrowed in confusion. "What are dementors?"

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed coldly.

"Dementors are among the foulest magical creatures to ever cross this Earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them... Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soul-less and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life." He explained.

Edward just heard the explanation without interrupting. Maybe this mission wouldn't be as easy as he originally though. He was incredibly shaken by those things. Dementors.

He took a bite of the chocolate and was surprised when he began feeling warmth inside. But it also helped in realizing that he had not eaten in a while, and that he had no idea what time it was.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"Well, the start of the term ceremony is about to begin in a few minutes. You've been out since the morning. We need to get a few things done so do you have any questions so far?"

"I have a few questions about the houses. Am I gonna be sorted to one of those house things?" Asked the alchemist.

"You are to be sorted, yes. Although your mission entitles you to protect Harry Potter, that is only if Sirius Black decides to go after him. In the mean time you are to learn and study the materials taught, like any normal student would. Mister Mustang asked that you are to report anything that involves the stone."

He stopped before continuing.

"About the stone, please refrain from asking about it to professors or students to avoid raising suspicion. We had a problem with it two years ago and would rather avoid a similar problem. I doubt you will find anything about the stone in the library but the Restriction Section is off limits. But who know, perhaps you will find something where others could not. If you have a question about something particularly strange, you may receive permission from myself, but ask no other teacher otherwise. I apologize for the secrecy but in the condition the school, it is necessary."

"So why is Sirius Black so feared? He's just a murderer or does is it something else?"

"No. Sirius Black killed 13 people with a single curse and no sign of remorse. He was sent to Azkaban, a wizards prison in which dementors guard the prisoners. Usually Azkaban will drain a wizard of his powers and leave them isolated, rendering them insane. But he managed to escape, a feat no other has done. And since Azkaban is located in a small island, chances of escape are none. People are afraid that he will come back to murder, in the name of the Dark Lord Voldemort."

The more the alchemist learned the more questions he had.

"And Voldemort is…?"

"Voldemort is one of the greatest Dark Wizard to have ever been taught at Hogwarts. He had a deep hatred towards Muggles for unknown reasons and had great fame in killing them. Soon he had organized a group called Death Eaters. Wizards who began to kill Muggles for fun. But that group soon grew into an army, and throughout the whole country, they wreaked havoc against all Muggles. A war came out of that single man and after while there seemed to be no end to it. Sirius Black was suspected of being his right hand man throughout the whole war. But after a long time of killing and making disasters, he vanished. Later on, Sirius Black murdered a block full of people. The only other wizard who was there was killed by the curse, Peter Pettigrew. Being a foreigner I doubt that you could comprehend the terror that Voldemort and his Death Eaters inspired." He finished, a morose tone clearly in his tone.

_Hmm. That guy does sound like bad news_, he thought as he finished the chocolate that was given to him. He felt better but his mind was still in a slight turmoil, knowing that there was a small chance that he would forget what he had seen soon. As he thought about how the Death Eaters killed the Muggles simply because they wanted to or because they were different made him think about the Ishbal Rebellion for some reason, he didn't even know much about it.

It was not until he heard a:

"Headmaster, the ceremony is about to commence. The First Years are going to be sorted." Did he look up.

An older looking woman with green robes and a pointed hat came in the room. Her face showed impatience and was so strict that she resembled Lt. Hawkeye in the manner. Her eyes looked at him and said:

"You are the new student Edward Elric, yes?"

"Yes, ma'am." He stumbled, out of respect and fear of what the woman was like. He would usually be confident when meeting a new person and showed them no hesitance but he felt weird, acting like his 11 year old self when he had just entered the military, and so far there was no reason why to speak informally to the woman. On the contrary, her stature demanded respect and fear, if it was a good thing or not he did not ponder it.

"Mister Edward, would you please follow Professor McGonagall to her office. She will call you out to the ceremony when you are ready to be sorted.

"Yes."

The woman walked out of the room briskly with the alchemist behind her. Edward gaped at the moving pictures and remembered that he had read about moving portraits that had retain a part of the personality that the person who was painted on. How it was done was still a mystery and he had no plans to remain clueless in the school.

Another thing that impressed him was the size of the school. Just seeing the long and large hallways gave him an idea of what the actual size of the castle was. He was very amazed by how much magic the school used. There were magical items everywhere and they all worked effortlessly wherever they were placed. But out of all the things that were in the castle that amazed him were the stair. They moved in different positions and levels every little while. He glanced at the teacher, but she just waited impatiently as she waited for the right stairs to take them to where they were supposed to go. When it did come, he stepped on it cautiously before walking quickly to the other side. It was amazing, but how was it possible?

He did not have time to dwell on it as they entered the woman's office. He felt strange. These people were used to all this magic and all these shortcuts to life that he had no idea how to respond to them. In his mind wizards were somewhat lazy, preferring to do everything by magic as a shortcut rather than to do it themselves. If anyone asked him he would rather do it by hand, just like he'd never used alchemy for every aspect of his life, just the things that were out of his reach.

"So Edward Elric, how do you feel about our school so far?" Professor McGonagall asked as she sat down in her desk. Not unlike the old man, her office was warm with a raging fireplace in the side of the room.

"Uhm. It's okay I guess. Just not what I'm used to." He answered honestly. She gave him a piercing gaze, in which he immediately sat straight in his chair.

"Not what you're used to? Well, you might as well get used to it, the year is long and the classes are no walk in the park. Do you understand?"

"Yes Professor. I understand."

She stared at him for a long moment before her strict face suddenly getting warmer. A smiled touched her lips before continuing.

"Anyhow, I understand that the headmaster would like to place you in Third Year. Have you read the all the books on the subjects from the first year and second year?"

"Yes, I have."

"Did you understand the basics of each subject?"

"Yes."

"I hope so because in Third Year, things are more advanced. If you do not perform well, I will drop you another year." The woman said before a knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"Excuse Professor McGonagall, we were sent to see you." Came a familiar voice. Ed looked at the door way and there stood Hermione and a dark-haired boy wearing glasses.

"Oh yes. Potter I heard you were ill in the train. Is that right?" McGonagall asked the boy with the glasses. Ed looked at him with a piercing eye, immediately deducing that that was Harry Potter, the kid he was supposed to protect from Black. He didn't look all that great, considering he had pale skin. The boy turned red in shame and he suppressed a chuckle.

Suddenly the door opened again and another woman came in.

"Madam Pomfrey."

She began talking about all the trouble that the Potter boy, while inspecting him before McGonagall interrupted her.

"It was a Dementor Poppy."

Disapproval crossed the woman's face before she continued on about how bringing dementors to a school was about the worst possible thing that could happen.

"Perhaps he should spend a night at the hospital wing?"

"I'm FINE!" was the sudden outburst that Harry decided to do.

"Have you at least eaten chocolate?" said McGonagall sharply.

"Yes, Professor Lupin gave me some in the train." He said grudgingly, in a low voice. Is green eyes looked up to him in curiosity. Ed just sat, looking disinterested in what had happened even though he had already deduced the fact that he had fainted in the train by his irritation, embarrassment, pale skin and the worry of the teacher. So he wasn't the only who had fainted, was he?

"Potter, Elric. Kindly wait outside while I talk to Miss Granger."

They did as they were told, and Ed greeted Hermione on his way out. She was confused over what he was doing in the office but since he was a new kid it made sense that he would have to speak to a teacher before it all started.

Ed waited in the hallway against the wall, one leg bent on the wall while the other supported. The Potter kid leaned against the wall but on the other side of the door. Neither looked at each other for at least a couple of minutes until Ed was as conversational as ever.

"So…Dementors huh?" His voice rang in the hallways, but it was too low to decipher any type of echo. The boy looked at him and then at the ground, hiding his eyes from view.

"Don't like them either?" He asked.

"Not a chance. I hate those things." Ed answered.

"At least you didn't faint…" Potter mumbled quietly, keeping his eyes glued to the carpet beneath them.

Ed didn't answer, just stood waiting for the teacher to come out and then sort him out or something.

In a few minutes, Hermione and McGonagall came out of the room, and addressed them.

"Potter, Granger, go to the ceremony. Elric, follow me." She said as they began walking through another hallway and stopped in front of the a large door, which beyond you could hear a booming voice. The old man's voice.

"And now, before we begin eating our scrumptious meal, allow me to welcome Mister Edward Elric, a new student at Hogwarts this year. He shall join the third years and I hope we can make him feel welcome here. Mr. Elric, please join us." He stepped uncertainly in through the door and found himself in a huge hall. It was bigger than the cafeteria at Central for sure. The roof of the place was perhaps one of the most curious things he had seen at Hogwarts. It looked high and never-ending, and it looked like the actual sky outside, a little bit cloudy but incredibly realistic. Under it were four large tables, each having a multitude of people, for what he guessed were the houses that he had heard so much about. Empty plates could be seen and everyone looked up to see him.

Whispers filled the entire hall in less than a second and excited giggling and whispering could be heard. Ed rolled his eyes as McGonagall directed him to a chair in the middle of the side of the hall where all the older people were sitting. He sat in it with an impassive face and looked at anywhere but the looks he was getting.

"I shall now place the Sorting Hat. Please do not panic." She said as he felt a light weight on his head. It would have been fine, despite the fact that the hat was moving as it took a good look at him. It took all of Edward's retrain to no beat it out of it's head and clap his hand.

"_What a nice mind you got here. Strong unlike so many whom I have been chosen to place in out school's houses._" A voice said. It took a moment for Ed to realize that the hat was talking to him inside his head.

"_Who the hell gave you permission to get inside my head. Get the hell out before I transmute something that will leave you permanently damaged." _He threatened.

"_Ooh. A brave one. I can see your personality as clear as water yet I cannot see what drives you. Perhaps if you let me…"_

"_Back off. There's no way in hell I'm about to let some creepy ass freak get even deeper into my head. Just do what you're supposed to be doing and hurry up too!_"

"_Mmm. I see you're cunning, and brighter than many. Brave, loyal, selfless, caring, protective. Bad-tempered, aggressive, troubling, resourceful, and so many other I cannot list. Could you be Hufflepuff? Or maybe a Ravenclaw, bright and intelligent? Perhaps a Gryffindor, brave and loyal? Or you could be an ambitious cunning Slytherin? All these yet I cannot choose one_."

Edward just rolled his eyes angrily. He had no comment.

"_Hufflepuff does not fully suit you. Ravenclaw could do very good with a prodigy like you. You have the most potential for Slytherin and Gryffindor but where shall I put you?"_

With a great bellow the hat yelled out "SLYTH-" Before it was rudely interrupted by the alchemist.

"_Hell no! That place sounds like its full of conceited jerks. I don't want to be there!" _He though angrily at the hat. The hat raised a nonexistent eyebrow at the boy before smirking.

"Fine then. You belong in GRYFFINDOR!" It yelled.

The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers as the Slytherin girls glare venomously at them.

Dumbledore rose from his tall chair and said:

"Mr. Elric, please join the Gryffindor and take part of our wonderful feast."

Ed did as he was told and walked down the long aisle between the four tables. These was a large amount of tension in the room as everyone's eyes fell on him, but he just simply shrugged them off and sat himself in the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore clapped his hands and immediately all the plates filled themselves with hundreds of varieties of different food, something that Ed considered his personal heaven.

At first all he thought about was how the old man had done that but as the aroma of the turkey and ham registered in his nose, his mouth began to water. He was faced with a tough decision, his need to know what had happened, or his want to eat as much as his stomach could hold. As his hand grabbed the fork, he decided to leave his scientist mind till later.

Hermione stood from where she was sitting and walked over and joined him, behind her two other people followed.

"Hello Edward, may I join?" His golden eyes looked up and nodded, his mouth too full to answer.

"These are my friends, Ron Weasley"-She gestured at the redheaded boy at her left whom he recognized from the Leaky Cauldron, "And this is Harry Potter." She pointed at the boy in her left who gave a weak 'hello' under his breath.

"Hey mate," greeted Ron, a grin on his face.

Ed forced himself to swallow the hot food and introduced himself.

"Edward Elric, nice to meet you." He said, shaking Ron's and Harry's hand, the latter a fast one.

"You don't look like a Third Year, I though you were a First year when I say you come in." Ron commented.

_Can't…kill…Don't…Attract…Attention…Can't…Kill…_

The trio just looked nervously as the smaller boy's steak was sadistically taken apart by a spoon, while the new student's eye twitched.

"So, where do you come from anyway?" Asked Hermione conversationally.

"Small country, out East," Ed lied easily.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters that have been at Hogwarts before?" inquired Hermione.

"I have a brother but he's younger than me." He answered between bites of his food.

"Why is your hair long? I mean I have an older brother who does the same thing but in a ponytail, but why so long?" Ron asked as he looked at the braid behind Ed's head. Ed just shrugged.

"Kept it long. Never got around to cutting it. Liked it. That's about it." The alchemist answered nonchalantly.

"So-"

"-You're-"

"-The-"

"-New-"

"-Kid-."

The golden haired boy looked up to see two more people joining in on their conversation. He recognized them immediately. They were the pair of twins that he had seen in the Leaky Cauldron only a few days ago. Having red hair and freckles, he deduced that they were related to Ron.

"These are my older brothers, Fred and George," Ron said as he introduced the pair, with not so much as looking up from his plate of chicken wings.

"Please to make your acquaintance," They grinned as they shook hands.

"Ron, Harry." Called out a new voice, one with authority.

Ed looked behind him to find yet _another _redhead towering over them. But this time, it was a strict one with the sound of a slightly big ego. It was the one whom the twins had pranked during dinner at the hotel-like place.

As soon as he had gotten the three boys attention, he continued to speak.

"Professor McGonagall just informed me that Mr. Elric shall reside in your room from now on. Do me a favor and escort him to his room after dinner." Before he left, his chest puffed out. It took all his willpower to not make faces at the leaving freckled teenager.

"Sorry about the uptight attitude from my brother-" Ron began before being interrupted by one of the twins.

"-Uptight? He's acting like a roach crawled up his arse and died."

"Fred!"

"Hermione, I believe we've known each for quite some time now. You may call me George."

"Jeez, Hermione, hurt my feelings much. I wouldn't say such barbaric things about my favorite brother-"

"I thought I was your favorite-"

"You are Georgie! But Perce is my second to favorite-"

"I thought I was your second favorite-"

"Ginny? When the heck did you get here?"

A short red-headed girl sat herself beside her brothers, a frown on her face. Ed couldn't help but grin at the family exchange.

"Don't change the subject George! Am I your second-favorite or what?"

"You are! But-"

"Didn't you say Charlie was always going to be your left-hand man?" Ron threw in, his voice a little bitter at being interrupted.

"Actually, Charlie is my left-hand man. Bill is Georgie's."

Ginny, looked at the new arrival and extended her hand to Edward. "Hullo, my name's Ginny." Edward took it and shook. "These-" she continued, her hands gesturing at the three other red-heads, "are my brother. The twins are Fred and George, and the tall one is Ron. The prat that just left is Percy. He was made Head Boy this, in-charge and all that. Don't mind him too much. He's as spineless as the twins."

One of the twins put his hand on his mouth. "Ginny! You offend me so. Putting me in the same category as Percy, disgraceful!"

The other twin nodded, giving the small girl a disapproving mock-glare. "Really Ginny, you should consider people's feelings more."

Usually, seeing so much family interaction would fill Edward with heartache, but although the heartache was there, couldn't help but be amused by the siblings. They all had their own charming personality. The twins were on the top of the list of people he didn't want to destroy.

Harry, sitting across from him, shook out a laugh. His glasses slid down his nose, obscuring his eyes but it was easy to see the amused look he sent the family.

"I missed Hogwarts." He said, with a smile.

"What? Relatives not accommodating enough. Would you like us to break a window?"

"Because we could break a window, just for you. Just because you're my favorite Hogwarts buddy." Fred (or George) said, slightly flinching at the "I thought I was your favorite Hogwarts buddy!" coming from somewhere in the table.

"No thanks, this summer just been one big rush. All I want right now is my bed, to be honest." Harry laughed, giving thankful looks at the twins. There was inside story there, Edward knew.

Ron looked slightly appalled at his friend. "You mean we bought all that candy to celebrate our return so you can sleep?"

"Candy?"

"When was this Ronald? And why weren't we informed of this return celebration."

"You weren't invited cause you don't share a dorm with us. Don't act like you don't have a return party with Angel-"

"And that, my brother, is a story for another day." George (or Fred) said, his hand covering Ron's mouth, but the smirk was obvious on the younger brother's face.

"Angelina?" Ginny said, a broad grin on her face as well. Hermione also looked slightly intrigued.

"George, do you hear someone calling our name?"

"Why Fred, you are right, I believe I do. Must be Nick, heard he gets lonely during the summer and longs to hear the magical properties of our voices. Goodbye friends, and dimwitted siblings. We shall return!"

"Just not today!"

And with that, the twins left.

Ginny rolled her eyes before returning to Edward.

"Sorry you had to listen to all that. But trust me, this is not gonna be the last time you're going to hear about them. They may be fifth-years, but it's really hard to ignore everything they do. If you're lucky, you might manage to catch some of their prototypes at work."

Edward couldn't help but be intrigued. "Prototypes?"

Ron took over. "They have this insane idea of opening a joke shop after Hogwarts, so they create all the stuff they're planning on using. Most of the stuff is quite brilliant, probably the only class they pass with a solid grade being Charms and Transfiguration. Don't let them fool you into eating any of their candies." Harry let out a snort, grinning a bit.

Edward let out a broad smirk. "I'll keep that in mind." That being said, he returned to his stacked plate.

"You've received a magnificent Gryffindor welcome, why don't you tell us something about yourself?" Ginny offered. "Can't get something for nothing, you know?"

Edward lifted his head from his food to give a small smile. He liked this girl.

"Well, I-um- like food?" He said, hoping to put off as much personal information. Hermione rolled her eyes, saying something along the lines of 'boys.'

Ginny gave him an unimpressed look. "Ha ha. Nice try. How about something more informative?" Although her tone was slightly sarcastic, he could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to know more about the new Gryffindor. Ron, Hermione and Harry also edged into the conversation, trying to be as casual as possible but still completely interested.

Edward let out a small sigh before thinking about it.

"I was homeschooled, along with my brother. His name is Alphonse. He likes cats. He also likes food."

His face darkened somewhat, but he choked his cough down.

"Why isn't your brother here?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Couldn't make it. He's kind of sick." Edward looked away from the group, concentrating back on his food. The group knew better than to cross the line with personal questions.

"Hey, just a question. Was the Sorting Hat about to sort you in Slytherin?" Ron asked cautiously, trying not to put his foot in his mouth, but he was somewhat curious. Harry also looked at the teen, and Ron could see his eyes begging for the question to be answered. But Ron knew why, so it didn't bother him in the slightest.

"Yeah, it almost did. It was going to place me in Ravenclaw too. It said something about Gryffindor and Slytherin and I kinda asked it to put me in Gryffindor last minute." He said, giving them a bashful grin. Hermione looked slightly proud at that but Ron couldn't leave it alone.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything but if you're new here, why'd you choose Gryffindor?" In Ron's point-of-view, there were too many things wrong with almost being placed in Slytherin. He wanted to know the type of person that he would share a dorm with. Biased, he did not ever think the same for Harry, they had too much history to doubt his best mate.

Edward laughed. "Actually, Hermione was the one that told me about the type of assholes that are in that House, and let me tell you something: the only reason I haven't been arrested for fighting assholes like that is cause my little brother always stops me. I wasn't about to place myself in a place where I would get expelled just because my brother isn't there to keep me from knocking a few heads."

Ron barked out a laugh, his face screwed in laughter. Ginny joined her brother in on the laughter, giving him an approving look. Hermione looked appalled but amused all the same. Harry gave the blond a smirk at his antics, green eyes shining brightly.

Ed managed to grin a bit before returning to his food. In the corner in mind, he could tell that Harry was going to be an easy person to look after. He didn't seem too bad, more reserved than the family before him but more easy-going than Hermione.

He gave her a wink before wolfing down the rest of his food.

"You should be careful, Ed. Wouldn't want to choke on a bone." Hermione told him, breaking away from a side conversation with Harry. The kid was tense and no doubt he wanted to talk to his friends, but his presence kept them from doing so.

Ed looked up and grinned cheerfully, "Sorry. No breakfast and I haven't had anything to eat. Whoa, I'm stuffed. This food is pretty damn good." He commented, rubbing his stomach. Ron eyed him warily as he stood from his seat and stretched sleepily. He yawned happily, the only way when he had eaten awesome amounts of food. The only downside was that his brother wasn't there. If he had his body, he would have enjoyed every plate of dessert that he had eaten.

"You know, we should get going. Tomorrow we have class and we have to get ready." Hermione murmured as she stood from her seat. All the teachers had already left to their respectful places and the hall was half empty.

"Alright. We'll show you to our room, yeah Ed?" Ron said merrily as they began walking down the large hall.

Letting himself be walked to the room proved to be eventful as they were almost out of the hall.

A pale skinned kid and what seemed to be two gorillas behind him stopped the entrance way. They stared at the group with arrogant smirks that Edward wished he could beat out of their face. In response the group went on the defense.

"What do you want Malfoy?" said Harry as he went in the front, glaring at the middle boy with the platinum blond hair, his hands swiftly going to his robes, where his wand rested.

"Might want to sleep with a light on, just in case those big ol' dementors come and scare you. You don't want to faint again, would you Potter? But some people can't help it." He sneered at the green eyed boy.

Edward kept a straight face. Judging from the green and silver ties, the arrogant attitude and the pompous air about them. Slytherins.

Ron, being the best friend, came to Harry's aid as he stepped up to Malfoy.

"Bug off Malfoy. We just ate. We don't want to throw it back up so soon."

The boy sent a glare his way before it was replaced by that stupid smirk.

"I thought your father had won money during the summer. Must've heard wrong. Your family is probably still as poor as ever. Bet your filthy mother doesn't even have anything to cook for you back home, does she? No wonder you look so anxious to be back. Hogwarts must be the only place where you could get free food."

For a moment, Edward saw red. He could feel his temper falling and the itching in his arms to break a couple of faces. Next to him, he could see Ron shaking in anger, his teeth grinding.

Hermione placed a hand on Ron's shoulders and mouthed, "_It's not worth it._"

The blond and his posse smirked at the red-head's lack of response and gave a small sneer to Hermione before walking away, all high and mighty.

Edward grinned, his canines flashing before he nonchalantly placed his leg in front of the platinum blond, and effectively knocking the boy onto the ground. His fault for having his nose so high in the air he couldn't see the obvious foot in the way.

Malfoy let out a shriek, his gray eyes widened, his face covered in blood. He shakily brought himself to his feet, pointing and accusing finger at the alchemist.

"You tripped me." He said, his voice shaking, both in anger and disbelief.

Edward let his mouth fall into a confused 'o', pointing a finger to himself. "Me?" He asked innocently. Before he couldn't help it and let a broad smirk cover his face.

Harry and Ron just looked on, surprised at the turn of events, but it wasn't long before they started sniggering, along with the other Gryffindors.

Humiliated and angry, Malfoy let out a nasal "Crabbe. Goyle."

An overweight, gorilla-looking boy walked up to, cracking his knuckles threatningly before throwing a punch, fully intended to hit Edward in his face.

With a large grin, he swiftly avoided the punch, elbowing the kid in the head and kneeing him in the crotch. He just heard a pained gasp before the Slytherin collapsed on the ground. The other kid looked at his uncertainly, before blindly charging himself at Ed.

Using the momentum from the charge, Edward swiftly tripped the kid, delivering a punch in the gut. Both Slytherin laid on the ground, their faces confused and more-than-likely, still trying to process what just happened.

Malfoy looked at the two boys on the floor, feeling outraged and a little scared. He threw a glare at Edward, not too threatning looking considering the bloody nose and the nasal voice.

"You just made yourself a powerful enemy today Elric."

Edward looked around curiously before returning his glance at the standing Slytherin. "Who?"

With a snarl, Draco called over the two boys and swiftly left the scene, his two monkey-drones following behind him.

Edward allowed himself a satisfied smirk before walking back to Hermione, Harry and Ron, who looked at him with something close to awe, or disapproving-but-they-deserved-it-but-you-still-shouldn't-have-done-it-but-I'm-somewhat-glad-you-did look Hermione was giving him.

All before Ron patted him on the back. "Holy hell mate. You took down Crabbe and Goyle, and without your wand. You are officially celebrating with us tonight!" He exclaimed, and, along with Harry, walked themselves over to the common room. The alchemist could slightly hear the cheers coming from behind him, no doubt the Gryffindor spectators of his little fight (even if it was mostly one-sided).

Edward looked around, the cushions and seats and chairs and tables and everything was warm and the only thing he wanted to do was sleep and Ron wanted to celebrate and he could now see Harry's dilemma.

Hermione excused herself briefly, asking them all nicely to please not cause anymore ruckus (there goes Dumbledore's request) and left up a staircase that Harry informed him, were the girl dorms.

Swiftly going up a staircase, Ron talking animatedly next to him, Edward wondered if this was what it was like being around people his own age. Al always told him he had to socialize.

Briefly introducing himself to Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom, the alchemist took a long look at the wonderfully comfortable-looking bed and noticed his robes had been laid on, now decorated with Gryffindor colors, and his trunk there. On the pillow of his bed, Owlly was sitting, its eyes closed, skillfully balancing in one leg as it slept.

Shaking the bed, the bird opened its large amber eyes and took him into its sight. Giving a happy chirp, it nibbled on his braid after settling on his shoulders. He looked around and saw Harry giving attention to his owl. It was larger than Owlly, with bright white feathers and a smug look around her as Harry treated her with leftover food.

Suddenly remembering about the food he'd snuck into his robes (he has a fast metabolism dammit), he gave a piece of leftover cake to the bird. Eating it at an amazing speed, it gave a happy foot before directing its attention to the window. Narrowly opening the window, he set Owlly down, before it found its way outside and flew into the cold crisp air.

He gave it a worried from before Harry spoke behind him.

"The owls have a special place in the castle. Don't worry about him too much. Hedwig comes and goes. They're smart animals, owls.

Nodding his appreciation at Harry, he threw himself on the bed, reveling in the soft, warm bed before a pillow struck him on his head.

"No sleeping, we're gonna celebrate." Ron exclaimed. "Get the bloody hell up. Seamus, got the firecrackers? Good. Harry, the sweets? Excellent. Neville? Smashing. Good thinking Dean."

After that, the majority of the comforters ended up on the floor, along with the pillows, and all the boys were in their sleeping clothes (Edward having snuck to the bathroom to chance, lest answer many questions having to do with the automail), and sitting around a lot of suspicious-looking candy, drinks, foods and firecrackers.

Ron, being unusually loud in contrast to how he was when they met, bellowed:

"Today, we celebrate out third year into Hogwarts, the defeat of Malfoy at the hands of our new roommate: Edward Elric! We shall introduce him to the magical world: Gryffidor style. Now Edward, would you like a candy?" With the shit-eating grin Ron was giving him, he knew better than to refuse.

And that was his first pleasantly traumatizing experience that night, effectively making him forget about the horrible, horrible memories.

* * *

**Author's Note:** This was probably the best rewritten chapter I have written so far. Way more interaction between the guys, and by the way, all those who were bothered by Weasley dramatics: Those are _staying _:D. More Ron action cause he suddenly became on of my favorite characters cause he doesn't mind saying random shit.

About Ginny and the twins, I like them. And I don't care if Ginny was traumatized as hell about the year before, just think of this being YOLO to her and deciding that being shy was just a waste of time. :D Get me? And the twins speak for themselves. :D

Let me know what you think, and please review! Especially the original readers. Tell me what you liked and didn't like. Please :D


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